• £309m in-service support contract for Type 45 destroyers
• Delivering high levels of availability for world’s most advanced warships
• Improving equipment reliability while providing best value for Defence
*Source: DTN News / BAE Systems
(NSI News Source Info) LONDON, UK - September 17, 2009: The Royal Navy’s newest warships, the Type 45 destroyers, will receive the very best service and support to ensure that they meet the UK’s operational requirements, thanks to a deal announced today.
The Type 45 class will be the largest and most powerful air defence destroyers ever operated by the Royal Navy and the largest general purpose surface warships (excluding aircraft carriers and amphibious ships) to join the fleet since World War Two cruisers. The projected deep load displacement of the Type 45, at around 7,200 tonnes, will also exceed that of any other general purpose surface combatant, again excluding aircraft carriers and amphibious ships, built for the Royal Navy since the Tiger class cruisers of the 1941 programme.
When the Type 45 enters service later this decade it will provide the fleet with an air defence capability that is several orders of magnitude greater than that provided by the existing force of Type 42 destroyers.
The £309m, seven year Type 45 Support Contract between the Ministry of Defence and BVT Surface Fleet, the maritime Joint Venture between BAE Systems and VT Group, will deliver In-Service Support to the six Daring class Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyers being delivered to the Royal Navy.
Commenting on the support contract, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said “As builders of the Type 45s, BVT bring the in-depth knowledge of these Destroyers that will assure the high quality support that is so essential to the continued delivery of this world class capability.
The contract is expected to sustain around 120 quality jobs, primarily in Portsmouth, and many more with key supply chain partners across the country, helping to retain the essential skills we need in this industry.“Type 45 is setting the standard for the modern Royal Navy, providing a multi-role asset combining state of the art power and propulsion systems, a world class weapons system and modern accommodation for its crew.”
BVT Surface Fleet Chief Executive, Alan Johnston said “This contract demonstrates an entirely new and genuinely innovative approach to providing the support that the ships and sailors of the Royal Navy need and deserve. The key requirement for T45 Support is not only to ensure the ships are available when required by the Royal Navy but to reduce the costs of supporting them through life.
“Working more closely in partnership with both our customer and our major partners will ensure that the Royal Navy is better able to deliver its operational commitments around the world”.
DE&S Director Ships Rear Admiral Bob Love said, “The Type 45 support solution is an innovative contract which sees the prime contractor for the build of the ships providing in-service support, ensuring high quality support at best value of money for defence.
“The contract incentivises BVT to minimise the cost of support by improving equipment reliability and is the first time this arrangement has been used for a major warship.”
Under Type 45 In-Service Support, BVT will act as the Class Output Manager (COM) and will co-ordinate all aspects of support delivery to the ship including maintenance, supply chain and design management, as well as planning and optimising support to the ships. Acting as this single point of contact simplifies the provision of support for the customer by removing the need for the ship to contact multiple agencies. BVT is proving the benefits of this approach in supporting the first of class, HMS Daring.
Recognising the key importance of supply chain in delivering support to the Type 45s, BVT has developed innovative contracting arrangements with key equipment partners: Thales, BAE Systems Insyte, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine, Ultra and Converteam. These new arrangements are focused on providing availability of the ships’ major systems.
This new approach better aligns all parties to meet the ships operational requirements and strengthens the partnering approach which has proved successful during the build and support of the ships.
Under this new approach, BVT will continuously review and optimise the maintenance regime, aiming to reduce cost and the ships staff maintenance burden. Working with its partners, BVT has developed innovative support arrangements providing greater incentives to both maintain equipment effectively and to improve the reliability of the equipment in line with operational requirements.
Built-in contract flexibility will accommodate variations in the operational profile that don’t require any contract changes. This is a first for a complex warship such as Daring and, by working more closely with the MOD, it aims to deliver more effective management of support budgets.
The support contract requires BVT to manage obsolescence issues for the ships and incorporate changes where required to maintain and enhance the support service
About BVT Surface Fleet
BVT Surface Fleet, a Joint Venture between BAE Systems and VT Group, is a leader in the design, manufacture, integration and support of naval ships, delivering complex engineering, integration and through-life support across the lifecycle of a vessel.
With operations in Glasgow, Portsmouth and Filton near Bristol, it employs over 7,000 people and has the facilities, skills and partnerships to set the global standard in excellence as a trusted and innovative through-life surface warship partner in both the UK and export markets.
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